Cody Firearms Museum Exhibits Ronald Reagan's Winchester at SHOT Show

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For the first time, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West's Cody Firearms Museum is exhibiting objects from its collection--including Ronald Reagan's embellished Winchester Model 64 lever action rifle--at the Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 20 - 23, 2015.

Detail of Ronald Reagan's Winchester Model 64, one of the firearms on display at SHOT Show. 2012.3.1

We’re proud to be exhibiting two significant rifles from our extraordinary collection at this year’s SHOT Show.

CODY, WYOMING (PRWEB)January 13, 2015

The SHOT Show is hosted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Ashley Hlebinsky, newly appointed Associate Curator of the Cody Firearms Museum, a part of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, says, “The Center's Firearms Museum is proud to be exhibiting two significant rifles from our extraordinary collection at this year’s show.”

The Cody Firearms Museum also has an informational booth—L341—at the show, where attendees can visit with Hlebinsky and other staff from the Center of the West to find out more about the Cody Firearms Museum. “We are unveiling our new Corporate Membership Program, which is exclusively for the firearms industry, at the SHOT Show as well,” notes Hlebinsky.

The one-of-a-kind firearms, both Winchesters, will be on view at Winchester Ammunition Booth 13129. They include:

Ronald Reagan’s Winchester Model 64 Lever Action Rifle, customized and presented to the former president by Frank Pachmayr and Nick Misciagna.

World’s Fair Winchester Model 1866 Lever Action Rifle, engraved by Conrad Ulrich for display at the first World’s Fair held in the United States in 1876.

“We would like to thank the National Shooting Sports Foundation for awarding us the opportunity to exhibit, and the Olin Corporation—parent company to Winchester—for partnering with us in their booth,” says Hlebinsky. The Cody Firearms Museum has a long history with Olin. “In fact,” she adds, “the largest collection in the museum is the Winchester Arms Collection, a gift of the Olin Corporation.”

That gift grew out of a loan, begun in 1975, of about 4,000 firearms and archival records. “In 1988, Olin gifted the collection, which was so large that the Center had to build another wing onto the building,” Hlebinsky says, “the Cody Firearms Museum officially opened in 1991.” The museum now houses more than 7,000 historically-significant firearms and more than 30,000 firearms-related artifacts. The collection encompasses global firearms history from 1425 to the modern day.

To visit with Hlebinsky at the SHOT Show and to view the two Winchester rifles from the Cody Firearms Museum collection stop by booths L341 and 13129. For more information about the Cody Firearms Museum and its extensive collection of firearms and firearms-related material, e-mail Ashley Hlebinsky ashleyh(at)centerofthewest(dot)org, phone her at 307-578-4048, or visit centerofthewest.org/explore/firearms.

Since 1917, the award-winning Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, has devoted itself to sharing the story of the authentic American West. The Center, and affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is currently operating its winter schedule, open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Thursday – Sunday. For additional information, visit centerofthewest.org or the Center’s pages on Facebook and Google+.